Áfram Ísland

Árið er 1998. Heimsbyggðin stendur á öndinni, enda úrslitaleikurinn í HM í knattspyrnu á næsta leyti. Þar munu mætast tvö stórveldi, Ísland og Kongó...

Og nei, ég gleymdi ekki að taka pillurnar mínar í morgun, heldur kíkti ég á fótboltasíður Guardian og rakst þar áþennan forvitnilega fróðleiksmola. Fyrir þá sem ekki nenna að flækjast á aðrar síður þá er þarna sagt frá sögunni The Ice Warrior, og söguþráðurinn súmmeraður upp svona:

The Ice Warrior, from The Ice Warrior and Other Stories (published 1976) by Robin Chambers, tells how Zaire's star player is killed in a bizarre freezer-related accident. The all-conquering, efficient Iceland (a case of taking symbolism too literally) meet bare-footed and mercurial Zaire in the World Cup final - and the evil Iceland manager plots the downfall of Zaire's star player, Odiwule, who can, apparently, bend the ball 90 degrees. When Zaire are awarded a free-kick, Iceland's equivalent of Douglas Jardine swaps the ball with a special refrigerated one he had been keeping under the team bench (how he did this without anyone else seeing in unclear).

When the Zairean maestro strikes the ball his foot and leg shatter (it's those modern boots, you know) and he is killed instantly. The chilly northern cheats win the final. Fast forward 10 years and a vengeful ghost of the victim returns to haunt the Iceland manager, who has, rather unusually, become the county's prime minister.

Greinilega tímalaus snilld þarna á ferð.